CLA-2 R:C:M 957460 JAS
District Director of Customs
610 South Canal Street
Chicago, IL 60607
RE: PRD 3901-94-102222; Automatic Nut Feeder, Machine for
Feeding Weld Nuts to Welding Machine; Machine for
Separating, Aligning and Feeding Weld Nuts Handling
Machinery, Heading 8428
Dear District Director:
This is our decision on Protest 3901-94-102222 filed against
your classification of nut feeding machines from Japan. The
entry under protest was liquidated on September 9, 1994, and this
protest timely filed on September 22, 1994.
FACTS:
The machines in issue are AF-VMU vibrating-type S5-DL, S6-DL
and H6-DL nut feeders which are machines for delivering weld nuts
to a spot welding machine. The nut feeders and the welding
machines are imported separately. Each nut feeder consists of a
vibrator bowl and body, air hose, nut separator, control panel
and step down transformer, all mounted on metal legs. In
operation, an electromagnet vibrates the bowl which causes the
nuts to align in proper position and creep up a spiral track in
the bowl into a vinyl tube where they are transported by
compressed air. The nut separator feeds single nuts through the
tube to a feed unit atop the welding machine. The positioning,
aligning and one-at-a-time sequencing of the weld nuts is
essential to the safe operation of the spot welder. The feed
unit utilizes a magnetized spindle to carry each nut to and
position it on the welding electrode.
The nut feeders were entered under a provision in heading
8428 for handling machinery because they manipulate or handle the
stock and effectively move it from one place to another. You
determined that these machines do not perform a material handling
function and liquidated the entry under a provision in heading
8479 for machines not specified or included elsewhere in chapter
84. - 2 -
The provisions under consideration are as follows:
8428 Other lifting, handling, loading or unloading
machinery (for example, elevators,
escalators, conveyors, teleferics):
8428.90.00 Other machinery...1.6 percent
* * * *
8479 Machines and mechanical appliances having
individual functions, not specified or
included elsewhere in [chapter 84]; parts
thereof:
8479.89 Other:
Other:
8479.89.95 Other...3.5 percent
ISSUE:
Whether the nut feeders conform to the description in
heading 8428.
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Merchandise is classifiable under the Harmonized Tariff
Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) in accordance with the
General Rules of Interpretation (GRIs). GRI 1 states in part
that for legal purposes, classification shall be determined
according to the terms of the headings and any relative section
or chapter notes, and provided the headings or notes do not
require otherwise, according to GRIs 2 through 6.
The Harmonized Commodity Description And Coding System
Explanatory Notes (ENs) constitute the Customs Cooperation
Council's official interpretation of the Harmonized system.
While not legally binding on the contracting parties, and
therefore not dispositive, the ENs provide a commentary on the
scope of each heading of the Harmonized System and are thus
useful in ascertaining the classification of merchandise under
the System. Customs believes the notes should always be
consulted. See T.D. 89-80, 54 Fed. Reg. 35127, 35128 (Aug. 23,
1989).
The terms listed in heading 8428 are not defined in the text
of the HTSUS or in the ENs. In such cases, we look to the common
or commercial meaning of a tariff term which are presumed to be
the same. Standard dictionary definitions are not helpful in
defining the term handling as it relates to machinery of heading - 3 -
8428. Protestant cites certain heading 84.28 ENs at p. 1200 in
support of the claimed classification. These notes describe
lifting or handling devices used with furnaces, converters,
rolling mills, etc., e.g., machines for inserting, handling or
withdrawing the pieces being worked. Examples of these devices
are coke oven discharging machines, ram or piston operated
charging machines for converters, special lifting machines for
raising the covers of metallurgical annealing or soaking pits, or
for lifting out the ingots, ingot or forging manipulators,
tilters, etc., and machines used with furnaces that utilize
cylinders fitted with rams or pistons to insert or remove objects
that are being treated in the furnace. The nut feeders in issue
are not similar in function to these machines. We conclude that
the nut feeders do not perform a material handling function of
the type described in the cited ENs.
Heading 8479 is restricted to machinery having individual
functions that is not otherwise excluded by a section or chapter
note, and is not more specifically covered by any other heading
in the HTSUS. Heading 84.79 ENs, at p. 1315, under (I) MACHINERY
OF GENERAL USE, list mechanical distributors for continuous
presentation of work pieces in the same alignment ready for the
working operation, not specialised for any particular industry.
The nut feeders have an individual function because there is no
evidence that they rely on the spot welding machine for their
operation. In addition, welding is a process and the term does
not denote a particular industry. The nut feeders under protest
are more akin by function to the description in the heading 84.79
ENs.
HOLDING:
Under the authority of GRI 1, nut feeders the subject of
this protest are provided for in heading 8479. They are
classifiable in subheading 8479.89.95, HTSUS.
The protest should be DENIED. In accordance with Section
3A(11)(b) of Customs Directive 099 3550-065, dated August 4,
1993, Subject: Revised Protest Directive, you should mail this
decision, together with the Customs Form 19, to the protestant no
later than 60 days from the date of this letter. Any
reliquidation of the entry or entries in accordance with the
decision must be accomplished prior to mailing the decision.
Sixty days from the date of the decision the Office of
Regulations and Rulings will take steps to make the decision - 4 -
available to Customs personnel via the Customs Rulings Module in
ACS and to the public via the Diskette Subscription Service, the
Freedom of Information Act and other public access channels.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division